The Climax-Scotts-Martin co-op wrestling team pictured this past Frebruary with the Division 4 Team Regional championship trophy.
A co-op arrangement in wrestling between Martin and Climax-Scotts that yielded success on the mat and friendships, has come to an end.
C-S and Martin have wrestled together in a co-op arrangement since the 2014-2015 season because participation numbers in both school districts were low, making it difficult to win as a team, however that situation has changed.
Enrollment numbers in both school districts have gone up, and while the cutoff for division changes has not been released yet, if the co-op arrangement had remained in place, C-S Athletic Director Tyler Langs said the co-op team would have been bumped up to Division 3 in wrestling competition.
C-S Athletic Director Tyler Langs said he is against the co-op split, but Martin initiated the call and was set on ending the co-op. He said he received a document from Martin about the co-op split that Martin’s athletic director and superintendent signed. C-S Superintendent Doug Newington and Langs will also need to sign the document that will go to the Michigan High School Athletic Association, making the co-op split official.
“I said to them (Martin), I personally don’t care if it was Division 3 or Division 4, I just want us to have a competitive team and fill all 14 weight classes. We know what’s happened in the past here at C-S when we didn’t have co-ops, it had gotten to the point where we don’t fill all 14 weight classes and then you don’t have a competitive team. I would prefer to keep a competitive team and fill all 14 weight classes and go Division 3,” said Langs.
Martin coach Logan Curry said because there were 35 wrestlers on the roster between the two schools this year but only 14 wrestlers can be entered for the postseason. “That left 21 kids sitting at home without the opportunity to finish their seasons, which we thought wasn’t fair to them,” said Curry.
“We were talking about it probably three weeks ago. When the count (enrollment numbers) came out we were curious to see where the numbers were going to be. Our numbers would have put us up into division 3. Not that that is a bad thing, but definitely for anybody running for an individual state title, running into Dundee with their nine state champs they had this year with eight of the nine returning, competing against them at the state finals is difficult,” explained C-S coach Mike Reitz.
Reitz adds because participation numbers at both schools has increased, a lot of wrestlers were not getting the opportunity to compete.
“It’s difficult to get somebody to commit to a season that’s three months long and all the summer work outs and then only getting to compete once in a while on Wednesdays so you can get an exhibition match. I think we were only able to get to four varsity B matches with those guys, so they didn’t get a ton of opportunities to wrestle. It’s difficult,” said Reitz, who adds it’s costly to hire an assistant varsity coach that can take a team of wrestlers on weekends to go to another tournament.
Langs said while C-S currently has good participation numbers, he’s concerned what those participation numbers look like without the co-op in place and if there will be an impact on participation numbers after Reitz announced he is stepping down.
Langs planned to inform the school board at the board’s March 17 meeting about the co-op split. He said he will welcome feedback from the school board about options, whether it is seeking another school district for a co-op arrangement or wrestling on its own.
“There just was such a good match with us and Martin and then we made obviously such a historic co-op. Top 2 finish this year, top 8 finish the year before, top 4 finish the year before. To match that is going to be really, really hard,” adds Langs.
Because Mendon and Bellevue are the only SCAA schools close to filling all 14 weight classes, some discussion has emerged about joining another league in wrestling. Langs said one scenario if other school districts are on board, could see C-S compete against Southwest 10 Conference opponents that would allow those schools to wrestle against a team that fills most weight classes.
“If we go by ourselves, that’s kind of the route we’re looking to go to be as competitive as possible,” adds Langs.
While Martin and C-S will be dissolving the co-op, Curry felt the co-op arrangement was very good for both schools.
“This has been the most successful co-op in the state’s history. It was because we had great kids, great parents and two great communities that bought into what we did together. One of the co-op’s purposes when it was first put together was to bring success to the program in hopes it would drive up the numbers for both teams and it has done just that,” said the Martin head coach.
Reitz said the relationship with Martin has been very positive. When Reitz moved into the C-S head coaching role two years ago after former C-S coach Jason Wade stepped down, Logan Curry took over as Martin head coach when Pete Boyd stepped down but remained on as an assistant coach.
“Logan and I communicated very well. Coached very well together. A lot of our ideas were the same, our thought process was very similar, so it made co-oping very easy for us. He (Curry) was very involved with the kids just like I was. Always wanted to do extra stuff. Planning stuff over the summer as far as team camp. We did a lot of fundraising together. It was really an enjoyable
experience for me. To get to know not only coach Curry, but his assistant coaches and the families from Martin. Very similar community to ours,” said Reitz.
While participation numbers in both school districts have grown and offered an opportunity to fill most weight classes, Reitz hopes the coaching change and split in the co-op doesn’t stop student-athletes from going out for the sport.
“I hope the kids don’t say Coach Reitz isn’t there so I’m not going to come out. Hopefully, who ever the new coach is, gets an opportunity. I just hope whoever that person is gets an opportunity to build relationships with the kids. I had guys that had been wrestling for me for 10, 12 years that were committed and held the new freshman or even upper classmen that were new to the sport, held them to a higher standard and maybe what the expectation was based upon the leaders in the (practice) room. Numbers wise, I really think we’re going to be o.k. as long as everybody shows back up,” said the departing C-S coach.
If C-S does wrestle on its own next season, it will mark the first time since the 2010-2011 season C-S will return to the wrestling mat without a co-op partner.
C-S and Athens formed a co-op wrestling team for the 2011-2012 season. The co-op arrangement lasted until 2014 when Athens dissolved the co-op because the Big 8 league Athens is a member of, would not recognize Athens or C-S wrestlers’ accomplishments at league events as long as they were participating as a co-op.
The C-S-M co-op team advanced to the Division 4 Team State Finals in 2015 when the team was defeated by Decatur 47-22 in the quarterfinals.
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